As Secretary Clinton continues her visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), FORGE is grateful that her trip is calling the world’s attention to the millions of lives lost due to the horrific conflict occurring in the country. And yet, having worked with over 50,000 Congolese refugees for the past six years, FORGE’s true hope for the Secretary’s visit is that it will advance the public’s understanding of modern DRC far beyond the prevailing perceptions of violence and shattered lives. We are optimistic that the trip will spotlight the tremendous opportunities for peace and development in one of Africa’s most populous countries and will focus on the inspiring progress being made by the conflict’s courageous survivors.

FORGE works with displaced communities in Africa, educating and empowering refugees to break the cycle of war and poverty through methods that address the underlying causes of poverty and oppression. By re-conceptualizing humanitarian assistance to include practical skill building and human capacity development, FORGE affirms the role of local citizens as empowered agents of peace and development rather than mere beneficiaries of international agencies. Our collaborative, bottom-up approach is both innovative and imperative, but progress towards our ultimate vision of peace and prosperity takes time.

Now in our sixth year of operation, we are proud to see growing examples of the returns on our investments in individuals. Earlier this week, we received a moving email that confirms our results. The following is from Antoine Ngeleka, the former head of one of FORGE’s Computer Training Centers, who is currently getting his B.S. in Computer Science through FORGE’s university scholarship program. He has some exciting news about developments in Congo, preparations for the 2011 elections, and how FORGE’s programming is helping otherwise-ineligible populations join the reconstruction process.

Hi,

I hope all is well with you and everyone near you. I just wanted to share the compliments I received from my former students who repatriated last year and this year. The voter enrollment that officially started early June in Kinshasa to prepare the 2011 elections is starting in the rest of the country this week. The last time it happened in Congo was before the 2006 elections, and most of the people who got jobs with the electoral commission during enrollment were from urban areas. The same thing is happening this time too since it is a computerized enrollment and there are no computer training centers in most rural areas of the DRC.

And yet, I have received so far seven phone calls from former students to inform me that they managed to pass the test and got a job with the electoral commission of DRC! Two of these people are in Mwange (Moba territory), one in Pweto, three in Kirungu and one in Moba port. I believe that many more of my students were selected but haven’t yet informed me for some reasons. One of them said, “I didn’t know whether the knowledge and skills I acquired from Kala Computing Center had any value until I managed to defend your work at the test. I know now that I have an important intellectual property in me, thanks to FORGE and its staff”.

This is a sign that FORGE was not wasting time and resources in its projects but was actually investing in people. The good seeds that FORGE was sowing are now producing.

May FORGE live longer,

Antoine NGELEKA, Bachelor Of Science in Computing, Cavendish University Zambia

This beautiful testimonial is moving evidence of the benefits of FORGE programs in Zambian refugee camps. In order to capitalize on the momentum towards peace, security and reconstruction in DRC, let us all remember that the time to invest in the DRC is now. Just this week, FORGE secured official approval from the Congolese government to launch a base of operations in Katanga Province (southern DRC). FORGE’s collective efforts will help communities design their own unique solutions to local challenges and will play a valuable and unprecedented role in rebuilding civil society in the DRC. As we continue to embrace the tremendous opportunities in Africa, we look forward to sharing many more stories of individuals triumphing over war and adversity in the coming months and years.

For more information about FORGE, visit http://www.FORGEnow.org or email info[at]FORGEnow[dot]org. Please join us in this movement—there are many simple ways for every one of us to contribute.

-Kjerstin Erickson, Vaughn Hester & Abby Speight, FORGE

Last week, fellow ONE field organizer Kim Smith and I traveled with FORGE to the Meheba Refugee Camp in northern Zambia.

In addition to building the world’s largest library in a refugee camp, schools, a women’s center, and assistance for refugees, FORGE, also has a micro-finance project that works to empower refugees and help with business skills.

Recently, the FORGE Microfinance Institute helped invest in agricultural loans to select farming refugees and provided much needed and expensive fertilizer for corn crops. Already is has proven to be a huge success as the farmers that received the fertilizer loan are having record corn growth.

We also paid a visit to another loan recipient, Bobo, a refugee turned baker. The first day we stopped in at his bakery, Bobo was not there and we were told that he closed his shop to travel around and stock up on corn and flour. The next day we returned and we spoke with him about his business.

Originally Bobo received a small loan to start his business. He did very well and when his rent went up in the market, he applied for another loan to build his own free standing bakery that allowed him to be profitable, pay back his loans, and provide for his wife and daughter. When we asked about the global food crisis and rising prices, Bobo took out all of his receipts and showed us the dramatic increase in the price of corn and flour. Being a successful baker and businessman, Bobo was fortunate enough to be able to stock up on his ingredients as prices continue to rise.

-Matthew Bartlett, ONE Field Organizer

At the conclusion of our recent trip to Mozambique and Zambia, I traveled with fellow field organizer Kim Smith to northern Zambia to Meheba Refugee Camp with FORGE, an organization that works hand-in-hand with refugees.

Meheba Refugee Camp has been in existence for over 30 years. It is about 700 square kilometers and has about 14,000 refugees, mostly from Angola, Congo, and Rwanda. Sadly there is no running water, no electricity, and no doctors.

A youth orientated organization, FORGE partners with refugees on a host of projects such as micro-finance, nursery schools, a women’s center, and has helped to build the world’s largest library in a refugee camp.

We stopped in at the FORGE Health Service center that was set up to aid in basic health care. Mr. Burton, the refugee that works there, told us how he helps to facilitate health care for people that are suffering from burns, insect bites, malnutrition and dehydration, and malaria.

We also stopped in at Kunachi Nursery School for refugee children that FORGE set up and operates. All the children were very eager to try out there English with us and sang a few songs.

Sadly, I noticed that during lunch, many of the children had nothing to eat, as food security is major issue in Meheba that is now being compounded by the global food crisis.

Many of the refugees in Meheba have fled their home countries due to wars and violence, and have seen horrific tragedies in their lives. Yet through it all, they are overcoming hardships and poverty and with the help and resources from FORGE, combined with more attention and better policies from the outside world, we can help to create a better partnership between our country and some of the most neglected and marginalized people on Earth.

-Matthew Bartlett

I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain as well as Dr. Henry Kissinger and Peggy Noonan on Sep. 20. This was my second time speaking with Senator McCain about our cooperative mission to eliminate extreme poverty and the importance of microfinance as a key player in making poverty history. We spoke about President Bush’s Millenium Challenge Corporation and the fight against corruption in foreign countries.

As you can tell by previous blog posts, Senator McCain is no stranger to the efforts of the ONE Campaign. I urged him to give a speech on global poverty and explained that this is not a Democratic issue nor is it a Republican issue; this is our responsibility as citizens of the great country that we live in. I explained that as the most powerful nation in the world we must step up to make a difference in the lives of individuals who need our help now.

I look forward to my next meeting with the Arizona senator at the end of October. One person at a time – that’s what it is going to take to make this mission a successful one. Until then…”make it happen!”

- Peter C. D’Aleo
Program Director, FORGE Microfinance Institute (ONE Partner)
www.FORGEnow.org

“Bobo the Baker,” as he is affectionately called by his community, grew up in a life ravaged by war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was in early 2006 that he finally fled violence and destruction in his home and began a search for safety for himself, his wife, and his young daughter.

When he first arrived to the Meheba Refugee Settlement in Zambia, Bobo opened a small bakery with two other refugees but conflicts caused the venture to fail. Never one to let difficulty get in his way, Bobo approached the FORGE Microfinance Institute (FMI) for funds and direction in opening his own bakery. After attending FMI Business Education Workshops and receiving a small “micro” loan from FMI, Bobo began to re-build his bakery from the ground up.

With the new education and the loan, Bobo stopped paying rent on his shop and bought it outright, increasing up-front costs, but decreasing fixed costs. His income has shot up by more than 750%. He has hired employees and is currently planning to purchase another bakery to keep up with the demand for his breads, cakes, pastries.

Bobo’s life has improved immensely, but the benefits don’t stop there. His own success has touched the lives around him and those lives have, in turn, touched hundreds more. ONE success stimulates other success and bad situations can always improve.

-Peter C. D’Aleo
Program Director, FORGE Microfinance Institute (ONE Partner)
www.FORGEnow.org

I’ve been hugely impressed by the reach of The ONE Campaign in recent months. I’m originally from New Hampshire, and it seems that nary a presidential candidate comes into my state without being “banded” by ONE and asked to talk about the complicated issues surrounding global poverty and disease. Approaching these leaders with such topics is how change can begin from the top – in government halls and meetings between international governments.

In FORGE, we’ve decided to mimic the sentiment on the ground, where change is also occurring. Whenever FORGE hires a new refugee staff member to run FORGE projects in the camps, they’re given a ONE band as a reminder that our domestic staff may be young Americans and they may be refugees in exile, but in our mission for peace, prosperity, and health, we are working as ONE.

The gesture goes a long way. After handing out the bands at a recent All-FORGE staff meeting, many of our new staff members came up to me and held out their newly-decorated wrist. “Yes, Nicholas,” they said.
“We work with you as ONE.”

Take a look at the attached picture. It shows the wrists of Kjerstin Erickson, FORGE’s Founder & Executive Director and Kashinda Lwika Zaina, a member of FORGE staff in Mwange Refugee Camp. Two people, two continents, two histories, two skin colors, and ONE shared vision. And a conspicuous tattoo.

-Nicholas Talarico, FORGE